<Begin Segment 26>

JS: Now you told me previously that you expressed your appreciation to your customers in a certain fashion. Could you tell me about how you did that?

MN: Oh, well, I called it -- we, we send out, we give out so-called calendars every year, and we would, Bob would make about 200 pounds of char siu, barbequed pork, and then we would give, we could wrap it up in tin foil and then we would go to all of our regular customers, probably about fifty or sixty, and then I would deliver it New Year's Eve to their home every year.

JS: And how long did you do that?

MN: At least fifteen years.

JS: Wow. I'm sure they appreciated the gesture.

MN: I think so. And his char siu was really delicious.

JS: Oh, is that right?

MN: Uh-huh.

JS: How did he learn how to make char siu?

MN: I think my, Bob must have learned it from the cook, from the cook, Sing, the cook that was there.

JS: Okay. Now, before you closed the restaurant, I think it was in 1980 when that happened...

MN: Yes, uh-huh.

JS: Did you or your family ever seriously consider another type of business besides the restaurant?

MN: Oh, no. We were, we were... I was fifty years old, Bob was fifty-five. No, I don't think so.

JS: What did you enjoy best about the restaurant business?

MN: The people. I enjoy people; I'm a people-person, and the food. The food was just out of this world. I miss that the most. If only my brother would only make Mandarin chow mein, or the roast chicken.

<End Segment 26> - Copyright © 2004 Densho and The Japanese American Museum of San Jose. All Rights Reserved.